Numbers · Chapter 11

V. 1. Complained-Or, murmured, the occasion whereof seems to be their last three days journey in a vast howling wilderness, and thereupon the remembrance of their long abode in the wilderness, and the fear of many other tedious journeys, whereby they were like to be long delayed from coming to the land of milk and honey, which they thirsted after. The fire of the Lord-A fire sent from God in an extraordinary manner, possibly from the pillar of cloud and fire, or from heaven. The uttermost parts-Either because the sin began there among the mixed multitude, or in mercy to the people, whom he would rather awaken to repentance than destroy; and therefore he sent it into the skirts and not the midst of the camp.

Verse 1. And when the people complained] What the cause of this complaining was, we know not. The conjecture of St. Jerome is probable; they complained because of the length of the way. But surely no people had ever less cause for murmuring; they had God among them, and miracles of goodness were continually wrought in their behalf. It displeased the Lord] For his extraordinary kindness was lost on such an ungrateful and rebellious people. And his anger was kindled-Divine justice was necessarily incensed against such inexcusable conduct. And the fire of the Lord burnt among them] Either a supernatural fire was sent for this occasion, or the lightning was commissioned against them, or God smote them with one of those hot suffocating winds which are very common in those countries.

And consumed-in the uttermost parts of the camp.] It pervaded the whole camp, from the centre to the circumference, carrying death with it to all the murmurers; for we are not to suppose that it was confined to the uttermost parts of the camp, unless we could imagine that there were none culpable any where else. If this were the same with the case mentioned Numbers 11:4, then, as it is possible that the mixed multitude occupied the outermost parts of the camp, consequently the burning might have been confined to them.

Verse 1. The people complained — Hebrew, as it were, complained; that is, they began to mutter some complaints, and for a while, it seems, kept their discontent from coming to Moses’s ear. The chief cause of their murmuring is represented (verse 5) to be their growing weary of the manna, upon which they had now lived for a year. But, besides this, it is probable that their last three days’ journey in that vast howling wilderness, the remembrance of their long abode in it, and the fear of many more tedious journeys, and much delay before they should arrive at the land of milk and honey, which they longed for, had greatly contributed to their dissatisfaction. It displeased the Lord — Though their discontent did not at first break forth into open murmurings against Moses, yet God saw the mutinous and rebellious disposition of their minds, and testified his displeasure on account of it. The fire of the Lord — A fire sent from God in an extraordinary manner, perhaps from the pillar of cloud and fire, or lightning from heaven, which is called the fire of God, 2 Kings 1:12; Job 1:16. Le Clerc thinks it might be one of those fiery blasting winds which are incident to those countries, See Ezekiel 17:10, and 19:12. It was, however, sent in a supernatural and miraculous way. The uttermost part of the camp — Either because the sin began there among the mixed multitude, or in mercy to the people, whom he would rather awaken to repentance than destroy; and therefore he sent it into the skirts, and not the midst of the camp.

THE COMPLAINING AND THE BURNING, 1-3.

1. Complained — Hebrew, were as those who made themselves sad; R.V., “were as murmurers speaking evil in the ears of the Lord.” The whole clause is thus rendered by Keil: “The people were like those who complain in the ears of Jehovah of something bad.” No cause is assigned, but we infer that it was because of the privations and hardships of the journey, aggravated in this instance by its continuance through three days. Such murmuring was a reflection upon their divine Leader. Fire of the Lord — Supernaturally kindled, either by lightning or in some other way. It did not, as Knobel and Rosenmuller suppose, merely burn the bushes around the camp and the tents, but persons also. The uttermost parts of the camp — Probably one end, where most of the grumblers were.

V. 2. The people-The murmurers, being penitent; or others for fear.

Verse 2. The fire was quenched] Was sunk, or swallowed up, as in the margin. The plague, of whatever sort, ceased to act, and the people had respite.

Verse 2. The people cried unto Moses — This calamity threw them into such consternation, that they immediately applied to Moses to deprecate the divine displeasure.

2. The fire was quenched — R.V., “abated;” literally, it sank down, through the intercession of Moses. The conduct of the people indicates the deep-felt human need of a mediator to shield the soul of the sinner from the divine wrath.

V. 3. Taberah-This fire; as it was called Kibroth-hattaavah from another occasion, Numbers 11:34,35, and Numbers 33:16. It is no new thing in scripture for persons and places to have two names. Both these names were imposed as monuments of the peoples sin and of God’s just judgment.

Verse 3. He called the place Taberah — That is, burning, because of this fire; and it was called Kibroth-hattaavah on another account. It is no unusual thing in Scripture for persons and places to have two or more names. Both these names were imposed as monuments of the people’s sin, and of God’s just displeasure. This passage is well improved by St. Paul, (1 Corinthians 10:10-12,) to caution us against discontent and murmuring.

3. Taberah is simply a local designation of the spot in the end of the camp where the burning occurred. The entire camp took the name of Kibroth-hattaavah — the graves of lust, caused by divine justice avenging the rebellion of Israel. Hence Taberah is not in the list of stations in 33:16, nor is there any mention of a removal from Taberah to Kibroth-hattaavah.

V. 4. Israel also-Whose special relation and obligation to God should have restrained them from such carriage. Flesh-This word is here taken generally so as to include fish, as the next words shew. They had indeed cattle which they brought out of Egypt, but these were reserved for breed to be carried into Canaan, and were so few that they would scarce have served them for a month.

Verse 4. The mixed multitude] ãspsah hasaphsuph, the collected or gathered people. Such as came out of Egypt with the Israelites; and are mentioned Exodus 12:38. This mongrel people, who had comparatively little of the knowledge of God, feeling the difficulties and fatigues of the journey, were the first to complain; and then we find the children of Israel joined them in their complainings, and made a common cause with these demi-infidels.

Verse 4. The children of Israel also wept again — That is, they again complained and murmured, that God had so lately visited them with such awful marks of his displeasure; though their special relation and obligation to God should have restrained them from any such carriage. Bishop Kidder justly observes, that “their sin was much aggravated on the following accounts: 1st, They declared their distrust of God’s power and providence, of which they had had so great experience. 2d, They despised God and his former mercies. 3d, They covetously desired flesh, when they had much cattle of their own, Exodus 12:32, 38, and Numbers 32:4.”

4. Mixed multitude — The Hebrew is very expressive, it being a syllable intensively repeated, saph-sooph, the gathering of the gathered, much like our word riffraff, or ruffscuff. “With these two millions of Israelites also went up a mixed multitude of varied descent, drawn in the wake of God’s people by the signs and wonders so lately witnessed — just as a mixed crowd still follows after every spiritual movement, a source of hinderance rather than of help to it, ever continuing strangers, and at most only fit to act as hewers of wood and drawers of water.” — Edersheim. Tacitus, though egregiously caricaturing Jewish history in many particulars, employs a phrase peculiarly appropriate to this mongrel horde of hangers-on and camp-followers when he describes Israel as “populi colluvies undecumque collecta,” the dregs of people collected from everywhere. See Exodus 12:38, note. Many of this mixed multitude were related to Israel by intermarriage. Leviticus 24:10, note. There is nothing more damaging to the cause of Christ, and to the purity of his Church, than intimacy with men of mixed principles. This association is much more dangerous than it is with men of unmixed evil characters, whose open hostility puts the Christian on his guard. Fell a lusting — Hebrew, lusted a lust. Wept again — Literally, returned and wept. Similar complaining, respecting the absence of flesh, but without mention of tears, took place in the desert of Sin, Exodus 16:2-12. The Israelites, instead of feeling disgust at the animalism of the mob, began to imitate them. “A few factious, discontented, ill-natured people may do a great deal of mischief in the best societies, if great care be not taken to discountenance it. This Egyptian rabble were the disordered sheep that infected the flock, the leaven that leavened the whole lump.” — Henry. Flesh to eat — This is not the language of the starving, but of epicures. Their gross appetites were not satisfied with the wholesome food from heaven plentifully bestowed. The best Hebraists consider the flesh in this verse as the flesh of fish only, a much more savory food than any flesh diet which was likely to be within reach of the oppressed Israelites. Fish was, and is to this day, a staple article of food among the poor in Egypt.

V. 5. Freely-Either without price, for fish was very plentiful, and fishing was there free, or with a very small price. And this is the more probable because the Egyptians might not taste of fish, nor of the leeks and onions, which they worshipped for Gods, and therefore the Israelites, might have them upon cheap terms.

Verse 5. We remember, &c.] The choice aliments which those murmurers complained of having lost by their leaving Egypt, were the following: fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. A European may smile at such delicacies; but delicacies they were in that country. Their fish is excellent; their cucumbers and water melons highly salubrious and refreshing; and their onions, garlic, &c., exquisitely flavoured, differing as much from vegetables of the same species in these northern climes as a bad turnip does from a good apple. In short, this enumeration takes in almost all the commonly attainable delicacies in those countries.

Verses 5, 6. The fish which we did eat freely — Either without price, for fish was very plentiful, and fishing there free, or at a very small price. Our soul — Either our life, as the term signifies, Genesis 9:5, or our body, which is often intended by the word soul. Dried-away — Is withered, and pines away, which possibly might be true, through their envy, discontent, and inordinate appetite. The expression seems to be of the same purport with that of the psalmist, Psalm 102:4, My heart is withered like grass.

5. The fish… freely — Hebrew, for nothing. So abundant were the fish in the Nile that they were very cheap. Herodotus repeatedly speaks of the great use of fish as an article of food in Egypt. Not only man, but myriads of waterfowl, which swarm in Lower Egypt more than in any other country in the world, depend on fish, and yet the supply is as inexhaustible as ever. They were eaten either dried in the sun or salted.

The Egyptians are the first people mentioned in history as curing any kind of meat with salt. Cucumbers — These differ from the ordinary kind both in size, colour, softness, and sweetness of flavour. They are described by Forskal as “the most common of all the fruits in Egypt, being planted in whole fields.” Enormous quantities of them are eaten in the East. They are eaten with the rind on, without any condiment. They are the commonest and cheapest summer vegetable, and are never complained of as indigestible. “I remember seeing dinner served out to an Arab school in Jerusalem, which consisted of a thin barley-cake, and a raw cucumber to each boy.” — Tristram. Melons — These are mentioned nowhere else in the Bible. In modern Egypt water-melons in immense numbers are sold so cheaply that the poor share their cooling properties. The very Hebrew name is retained slightly changed. “A traveller in the East who recollects the intense gratitude which the gift of a slice of melon inspired while journeying over the hot and dry plains, or one who remembers the consciousness of wealth and security which he derived from the possession of a melon while preparing for a day’s journey over the same plains — he will readily comprehend the regret with which the Hebrews in the Arabian desert looked back upon the melons of Egypt.” “Nothing could be more regretted in the burning desert than these delicious melons, whose exuberant juice is so refreshing to the thirsty pilgrim.” — W.M. Thomson. Leeks — The Hebrew word occurs twenty-two times, once rendered court, seventeen times grass, once herb, twice hay, and once leek. It is evident that leek, which is found only here, is a mistaken translation for grass. Hengstenberg and Kitto strongly contend for grass as the correct rendering. Says the latter, “Among the wonders of the natural history of Egypt, it is mentioned by travelers that the common people there eat with special relish a kind of grass similar to clover.” Mayer says of this plant, whose scientific name is Trigonella foenum Graecum, that its leaves are more pointed than clover, and that great quantities of it are eaten by the people. In Cairo it is a garden-plant called halbeh. In November it is sold in large bunches in the streets, and is eaten with incredible greediness without any kind of seasoning. The Targum of Onkelos for leeks has “cresses,” one species of which is the pepper-grass. But all the old versions and commentators insist that leeks is the proper translation. They were a favourite vegetable with the Egyptians — indeed they were reverenced by them as sacred. Hence a Roman satirist ridicules the Egyptians for growing their gods in their gardens. Onions of a mild and pleasant taste flourish in Egypt better than elsewhere. According to Herodotus they were the ordinary food of the workmen at the pyramids. They are still almost the only food of the poor, eaten roasted, cut into four pieces, with some bits of meat. With this dish the Turks in Egypt are so delighted that they wish they may enjoy it in paradise. Garlic is the Allium sativum of Linnaeus, which abounds in Egypt, and is akin to the onion. Herodotus states that the allowance of this vegetable to the workman was inscribed on the great pyramid. Not one of all these refreshing vegetables could be found in the desert, and yet they are those after which there would be the most intense craving under the wilting heat of the desert. There was therefore some ground for the complaint of the people. But their culpability lay in their forgetfulness of the providential compensations: manna, emancipation from servitude, the written law of God, Jehovah visibly guiding them, and the inspiring hope of a home in Canaan. All the miseries of Egypt, the toil, the taskmaster, the contumely, and the degradation of bondage are forgotten in the discomforts of the present moment, and only the gross animal pleasures now come into mind. “Thus when once the heart loses its freshness in the divine life, and heavenly things begin to lose their savour, and first love declines, and Christ ceases to be a satisfying and altogether precious portion, and the Bible and communion with God lose their charm, and become dull and mechanical; then the eye wanders back to the world, the heart follows the eye, and the feet follow the heart. We forget, at such moments, what the world was to us when we were in it and of it.”

V. 6. Our soul-Either our life, as the soul signifies, Genesis 9:5, or our body, which is often signified by the soul. Dried away-Is withered and pines away; which possibly might be true, through envy and discontent, and inordinate appetite.

Verses 5, 6. The fish which we did eat freely — Either without price, for fish was very plentiful, and fishing there free, or at a very small price. Our soul — Either our life, as the term signifies, Genesis 9:5, or our body, which is often intended by the word soul. Dried-away — Is withered, and pines away, which possibly might be true, through their envy, discontent, and inordinate appetite. The expression seems to be of the same purport with that of the psalmist, Psalm 102:4, My heart is withered like grass.

6. Our soul is dried away — Our animal life faints for want of strong and refreshing food. Such a use of the term soul is still common in the East, where, hungry or thirsty, the people say, “Our soul is withered.” Nothing at all, besides this manna — The skilful reader will not fail, by correct intonation, to bring out the contempt here poured upon the bread of heaven, which prefigures our Lord Jesus according to his own words in John 6:32, 33, and to St. Paul’s in 1 Corinthians 10:3. We know of nothing in the conduct of these Israelites that more strikingly exhibits their low moral character than this complaint. The animal appetites have completely subverted their intellectual and spiritual tastes, if they ever had any, and they here exhibit a disgusting sensuality. The carnal mind to-day treats the glorious Antitype with no more respect than these sensual Israelites treated the type. Sin is the same in all ages.

V. 7. As coriander-seed-Not for colour, for that is black, but for shape and figure. Bdellium-Is either the gum of a tree, of a white and bright colour, or rather a gem or precious stone, as the Hebrew doctors take it; and particularly a pearl wherewith the Manna manifestly agrees both in its colour, which is white, Exodus 16:14, and in its figure which is round.

Verse 7. The manna was as coriander seed] Probably this short description is added to show the iniquity of the people in murmuring, while they had so adequate a provision. But the baseness of their minds appears in every part of their conduct.

About the bdellium of the ancients the learned are not agreed; and I shall not trouble the reader with conjectures. See Clarke’s note on “Genesis 2:12”. Concerning the manna, see the notes on Exodus 16:1-36.

Verses 7, 8. As coriander-seed — Not for colour, for that is black, but for shape and figure. Bdellium — Is either the gum of a tree, of a white and bright colour, or rather a gem or precious stone, as the Hebrew doctors take it; and particularly a pearl, wherewith the manna manifestly agrees both in its colour, which is white, (Exodus 16:14,) and in its figure, which is round. Fresh oil — Or, of the most excellent oil; or, of cakes made with the best oil, the word cakes being easily supplied out of the foregoing member of the verse; or, which is not much different, like wafers made with honey, as it is said, Exodus 16:31. The nature and use of manna are here thus particularly described, to show the greatness of their sin in despising such excellent food.

Verse 7. The manna. See Exodus 14. 15. and 31.—Bdellium. See Genesis 2:12. Exodus 28:19.

7. Manna — See Exodus 16:14, 15, and Joshua 5:12, notes. The coriander is found in Egypt, Persia, and India. It has a round, tall stalk, white or reddish flowers, and grayish, spicy seeds used by confectioners and druggists. It grows wild in Egypt and Palestine. Tristram found it in the valley of the Jordan. It is a spice to bread in the East, and an aroma to sweetmeats. Bdellium occurs only here and in Genesis 2:12. It is impossible to say whether it is a mineral, (beryl or crystal, as in the Septuagint,) animal, as pearl, for which some of the Jewish doctors contend, or vegetable, as an aromatic exudation.

V. 8. Fresh oil-Or, of the most excellent oil; or of cakes made with the best oil, the word cakes being easily supplied out of the foregoing member of the verse; or, which is not much differing, like wafers made with honey, as it is said Exodus 16:31. The nature and use of Manna is here thus particularly described, to shew the greatness of their sin in despising such excellent food.

Verses 7, 8. As coriander-seed — Not for colour, for that is black, but for shape and figure. Bdellium — Is either the gum of a tree, of a white and bright colour, or rather a gem or precious stone, as the Hebrew doctors take it; and particularly a pearl, wherewith the manna manifestly agrees both in its colour, which is white, (Exodus 16:14,) and in its figure, which is round. Fresh oil — Or, of the most excellent oil; or, of cakes made with the best oil, the word cakes being easily supplied out of the foregoing member of the verse; or, which is not much different, like wafers made with honey, as it is said, Exodus 16:31. The nature and use of manna are here thus particularly described, to show the greatness of their sin in despising such excellent food.

8. Ground it in mills — These probably differed but little from the Syrian mills of the present time. The mortar is still used by the Arabs to pound wheat for kibby, their national dish. Pans — R.V., “seethed it in pots.” The same Hebrew word is rendered pot in Judges 6:19, and 1 Samuel 2:14. As the taste of fresh oil — Olive oil. In Exodus 16:31, manna is said to have the taste of honey. Olive-oil and honey entered largely into the diet of the Hebrews in Canaan; they are also prominent articles of food to the Easterns at this day.

9. Dew seems to have been the medium of the miracle. See Exodus 16:14, note.

V. 10. In the door of his tent-To note they were not ashamed of their sin.

Verses 10-14. Every man in the door of his tent — To denote they were not ashamed of their sin. Have I not found favour — Why didst thou not hear my prayer when I desired thou wouldst excuse me, and commit the care of this unruly people to some other person? Have I begotten them? — Are they my children, that I should be obliged to provide food and all things for their necessity and desire? To bear — The burden of providing for and satisfying them. Alone — Others were only assistant to him in smaller matters; but the harder and greater affairs, such as this unquestionably was, were brought to Moses and determined by him alone.

THE COMPLAINT OF MOSES, 10-15.

The human infirmity of Moses, and his imperfection as a mediator, here strikingly appear. His faith, his repose of soul in the Almighty, is evidently shaken. He had not learned that God strengthens the back while he increases the burden, the lesson so well learned by St. Paul: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” The sensuality and insubordination of this company of serfs, just set free from the brickkilns of Egypt, greatly aggravated the burdens of Moses as the national executive, and justify his appeal to the Lord.

10. Every man — This indicates the universality of the disaffection. In the door of his tent — Not secretly but publicly giving vent to his tears and complaints. The anger of the Lord was justly kindled in view of the ingratitude of the people for their deliverance from bondage, their forgetfulness of past mercies, their contempt for present blessings, and their distrust of the divine guidance. Faith never complains. Moses also was displeased — His very sympathy with Jehovah required this displeasure. Anger in the interest of God and justice, and not asthe expression of personal resentment, is not only innocent but is demanded. Plato says, that he who cannot be angry at an outrage upon innocence is like a man with a withered muscle.

V. 11. Not found favour-Why didst thou not hear my prayer, when I desired thou wouldest excuse me, and commit the care of this unruly people to some other person.

Verses 11. - 15. The complaint and remonstrance of Moses in these verses serve at once to show the deeply distressed state of his mind, and the degradation of the minds of the people. We have already seen that the slavery they had so long endured had served to debase their minds, and to render them incapable of every high and dignified sentiment, and of every generous act.

Verses 10-14. Every man in the door of his tent — To denote they were not ashamed of their sin. Have I not found favour — Why didst thou not hear my prayer when I desired thou wouldst excuse me, and commit the care of this unruly people to some other person? Have I begotten them? — Are they my children, that I should be obliged to provide food and all things for their necessity and desire? To bear — The burden of providing for and satisfying them. Alone — Others were only assistant to him in smaller matters; but the harder and greater affairs, such as this unquestionably was, were brought to Moses and determined by him alone.

11. Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant — In a moment of weak faith the most honoured person on earth — honoured in bearing the largest part in the elevation of the race — deems himself the subject of special afflictions. But this was only momentary and exceptional in the history of Moses. He usually “endured as seeing Him who is invisible.”

V. 12. Have I begotten them?-Are they my children, that I should be obliged to provide food and all things for their necessity and desire?

Verses 11. - 15. The complaint and remonstrance of Moses in these verses serve at once to show the deeply distressed state of his mind, and the degradation of the minds of the people. We have already seen that the slavery they had so long endured had served to debase their minds, and to render them incapable of every high and dignified sentiment, and of every generous act.

Verses 10-14. Every man in the door of his tent — To denote they were not ashamed of their sin. Have I not found favour — Why didst thou not hear my prayer when I desired thou wouldst excuse me, and commit the care of this unruly people to some other person? Have I begotten them? — Are they my children, that I should be obliged to provide food and all things for their necessity and desire? To bear — The burden of providing for and satisfying them. Alone — Others were only assistant to him in smaller matters; but the harder and greater affairs, such as this unquestionably was, were brought to Moses and determined by him alone.

12. Have I conceived all this people — Moses does not throw off all care for the people, but he rather devolves on Jehovah that burden as the Creator and Father of Israel, (Exodus 4:22,) more in despair than in unbelief. For unbelief complains, but does not pray. The Holy Ghost has declared that “Moses was faithful in all his house.” Hebrews 3:2. He was, in the language of the New Testament, a perfect man, inasmuch as the bent of his will, the outgoing of his affections, the drift of his whole being was toward God; yet this verse unveils the infirmities which were still marring his character. The holiest man, in times of great distress, may momentarily lose heart through forgetfulness of the fact that God is a great burden-bearer, as Moses forgot that Israel was but a feather’s weight upon the divine shoulders. How honestly does Moses draw aside the veil which might have concealed his own weakness, and which an uninspired historian would have left undrawn! Carry them in thy bosom — Moses here seems to disclose some past charge given to him by the Lord. It is in striking consonance with the character of the great Shepherd of Israel: “He shall gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom.” Isaiah 40:11; John 10:11-14, notes. As a nursing father — Moses’s ideal of a ruler is here beautifully expressed: not a stern despot wielding a sceptre, but a kind and loving father bearing his infant babe in his arms. St. Paul, as a spiritual ruler of the Church of Christ, realized this ideal. 1 Thessalonians 2:7, 11. The Palestinian Targum, instead of “nursing father” has “pedagogue” — child leader — the term which describes the office of the law in Galatians 3:24.

Verses 11. - 15. The complaint and remonstrance of Moses in these verses serve at once to show the deeply distressed state of his mind, and the degradation of the minds of the people. We have already seen that the slavery they had so long endured had served to debase their minds, and to render them incapable of every high and dignified sentiment, and of every generous act.

Verses 10-14. Every man in the door of his tent — To denote they were not ashamed of their sin. Have I not found favour — Why didst thou not hear my prayer when I desired thou wouldst excuse me, and commit the care of this unruly people to some other person? Have I begotten them? — Are they my children, that I should be obliged to provide food and all things for their necessity and desire? To bear — The burden of providing for and satisfying them. Alone — Others were only assistant to him in smaller matters; but the harder and greater affairs, such as this unquestionably was, were brought to Moses and determined by him alone.

13. Whence should I have flesh — The eye of Moses had certainly fallen from God to himself. His faith had fallen from the supernatural to the natural. He had forgotten that this was God’s work, and that he might be trusted now and forever. Moses is not the only good man who has imagined that the crank of the universe is turned by his hand.

V. 14. To bear-The burden of providing for and satisfying them. Alone-Others were only assistant to him in smaller matters; but the harder and greater affairs, such as this unquestionably was, were brought to Moses and determined by him alone.

Verses 11. - 15. The complaint and remonstrance of Moses in these verses serve at once to show the deeply distressed state of his mind, and the degradation of the minds of the people. We have already seen that the slavery they had so long endured had served to debase their minds, and to render them incapable of every high and dignified sentiment, and of every generous act.

Verses 10-14. Every man in the door of his tent — To denote they were not ashamed of their sin. Have I not found favour — Why didst thou not hear my prayer when I desired thou wouldst excuse me, and commit the care of this unruly people to some other person? Have I begotten them? — Are they my children, that I should be obliged to provide food and all things for their necessity and desire? To bear — The burden of providing for and satisfying them. Alone — Others were only assistant to him in smaller matters; but the harder and greater affairs, such as this unquestionably was, were brought to Moses and determined by him alone.

THE COMPLAINT OF MOSES, 10-15.

The human infirmity of Moses, and his imperfection as a mediator, here strikingly appear. His faith, his repose of soul in the Almighty, is evidently shaken. He had not learned that God strengthens the back while he increases the burden, the lesson so well learned by St. Paul: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” The sensuality and insubordination of this company of serfs, just set free from the brickkilns of Egypt, greatly aggravated the burdens of Moses as the national executive, and justify his appeal to the Lord.

10. Every man — This indicates the universality of the disaffection. In the door of his tent — Not secretly but publicly giving vent to his tears and complaints. The anger of the Lord was justly kindled in view of the ingratitude of the people for their deliverance from bondage, their forgetfulness of past mercies, their contempt for present blessings, and their distrust of the divine guidance. Faith never complains. Moses also was displeased — His very sympathy with Jehovah required this displeasure. Anger in the interest of God and justice, and not asthe expression of personal resentment, is not only innocent but is demanded. Plato says, that he who cannot be angry at an outrage upon innocence is like a man with a withered muscle.

V. 15. My wretchedness-Heb. my evil, my torment, arising from the insuperable difficulty of my office and work of ruling this people, and from the dread of their utter extirpation, and the dishonour which thence will accrue to God and to religion, as if, not I only, but God also were an impostor.

Verses 11. - 15. The complaint and remonstrance of Moses in these verses serve at once to show the deeply distressed state of his mind, and the degradation of the minds of the people. We have already seen that the slavery they had so long endured had served to debase their minds, and to render them incapable of every high and dignified sentiment, and of every generous act.

Verse 15. If thou deal thus with me, kill me — He begs that God would be pleased either to ease him of the burdensome charge, or take him out of the world, and rid him of a life so troublesome and insupportable. See my wretchedness — Hebrew, my evil, my torment, arising from the difficulty of my office, and work of ruling this people, and from the dread of their utter extirpation, and the dishonour which will thence accrue to thee and religion; as if not only I, but thou also wast a deceiver. He speaks like an affectionate father of a people who makes their sufferings his own. And, indeed, what could make a ruler of such paternal tenderness more distressed than to see the people he was appointed to govern so untoward, not only toward himself, but God? and to see them, by their perverseness, drawing down upon themselves such dire calamities, and the enemies of God rejoicing in their ruin?

15. Kill me… out of hand — That is, outright, by an instantaneous stroke. The oppressiveness of his official responsibility, and the depth of his despair in this temporary eclipse of faith, are here strikingly portrayed. My wretchedness — His apprehended future failure and disgrace. Faith alone spans the future with the bow of hope. Unbelief always forebodes evil. Some MSS. read, “their wretchedness.” Thus the Jerusalem Targum, which adds “who are thy people.” Though the spirit of this prayer is reprehensible, no rebuke is administered by the longsuffering Jehovah. He who knoweth our frame saw in the heart of his servant no wilful apostasy.

V. 16. To be elders-Whom thou by experience discernest to be elders not only in years, and name, but also in wisdom and authority with the people. And according to this constitution, the Sanhedrim, or great council of the Jews, which in after-ages sat at Jerusalem, and was the highest court of the judgment among them, consisted of seventy men.

Verse 16. To be elders — Whom thou by experience discernest to be elders, not only in years and name, but also in wisdom and authority with the people. And according to this constitution, the sanhedrim, or great council of the Jews, which in after ages sat at Jerusalem, and was the highest court of judgment among them, consisted of seventy men.

Ver. 16. Gather unto me seventy men of the elders. The Hebrews always had elders, as appears from Exodus 1. 3. and 21. These were afterwards called the Sanhedrim, or grand council of the nation. It was composed of princes, generals, and priests. The highpriest was the president by office. Our Saviour honours them as sitting in Moses’s seat. Matthew 23:2.

THE SEVENTY ELDERS APPOINTED — THE QUAILS PROMISED, 16-23. Though Jehovah might have said to Moses, “My grace is sufficient for thee,” he chose to give the sinking faith of his servant a visible prop in the election of a council of seventy to share his responsibility. When the Lord stations a man at a post of duty he fits him for it if he trust in him, and maintains him in it by raising up coadjutors.

16. Whom thou knowest to be the elders — Something in addition to mature age is evidently sought, namely, the qualities which properly belong to advancing years — gravity, wisdom, and piety. Out of an existing class of elders the seventy were to be chosen by Moses. See Exodus 24:1. Officers — Hebrew, shoterim. These were not judges, (Deuteronomy 16:18,) but writers who kept the genealogical registers on which all hereditary succession and ancestral fame depended. Hence the office was fully as dignified as that of a judge. In subsequent times the Levites, the scholastic tribe, supplied most of these scribes. See Exodus 5:6-9, notes. These were brought unto the tabernacle, that they might be first separated from secular employments and then be filled with the Spirit. After this public inauguration there could be no doubt among the people as to their authority. If this body of elders was designed to be a permanent council — the Sanhedrim of the New Testament — it is remarkable that no further mention is made of it in the Old Testament during the fifteen intervening centuries. Hence we conclude that this senate was designed only to afford temporary relief to Moses amid the extraordinary perplexities of the sojourn in the wilderness.

V. 17. I will come down-By my powerful presence and operation. I will put it on them-That is, I will give the same spirit to them which I have given to thee. But as the spirit was not conveyed to them from or through Moses, but immediately from God, so the spirit or its gifts were not by this means impaired in Moses. The spirit is here put for the gifts of the spirit, and particularly for the spirit of prophecy, whereby they were enabled, as Moses had been and still was, to discern hidden and future things, and resolve doubtful and difficult cases, which made them fit for government. It is observable, that God would not, and therefore men should not, call any persons to any office for which they were not sufficiently qualified.

Verse 17. I will take of the spirit which is upon thee] From this place Origen and Theodoret take occasion to compare Moses to a lamp, at which seventy others were lighted, without losing any of its brightness. To convince Moses that God had sufficiently qualified him for the work which he had given him to do, he tells him that of the gifts and graces which he has given him he will qualify seventy persons to bear the charge with him. This was probably intended as a gracious reproof. Query. Did not Moses lose a measure of his gifts in this business? And is it not right that he whom God has called to and qualified for some particular office, should lose those gifts which he either undervalues or refuses to employ for God in the way appointed? Is there not much reason to believe that many cases have occurred where the spiritual endowments of particular persons have been taken away and given to others who made a better use of them? Hence the propriety of that exhortation, Revelation 3:11: Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

The gracious God never called a man to perform a work without furnishing him with adequate strength; and to refuse to do it on the pretence of inability is little short of rebellion against God.

This institution of the seventy persons to help Moses the rabbins consider as the origin of their grand council called the Sanhedrin. But we find that a council of seventy men, elders of Israel, had existed among the people a year before this time. See Exodus 24:9; see the advice given to Jethro to Moses, Exodus 18:17, &c., and the notes there.

Verse 17. I will come down — By my powerful presence and operation. I will put it on them — That is, I will give the same spirit to them which I have given to thee. The spirit is here put for the gifts of the Spirit, and particularly for the spirit of prophecy, whereby they were enabled, as Moses had been and still was, to discern hidden and future things, and resolve doubtful and difficult cases, which made them fit for government. It is observable that God would not, and therefore men should not, call any persons to any office for which they were not sufficiently qualified.

17. I will come down — Not figuratively, but by a literal descent in the pillar of cloud, as in verse 25. Chaldee, “I will manifest myself.” Targum of Palestine, “I will be revealed in the glory of my shekinah.” There is no record of the words of Jehovah to Moses on this occasion. I will take of the spirit — The Hebrew for take is an unusual word here, signifying to divide into portions. The elders were to share, but probably in a less degree, the charismata, or special gifts of wisdom and administration which Moses possessed. There was to be no diminution of the endowment of Moses. The Targum of Palestine says: “I will amplify the spirit of prophecy that is upon thee, and bestow it upon them.” Hence Origen and Theodoret take occasion to compare Moses to a lamp at which seventy others were lighted without diminishing its lustre. Dr. Adam Clarke, however, queries whether Moses did not lose a measure of his gifts at this time because he had undervalued them, in accordance with the great law that a spiritual gift unused or slighted declines.

V. 18. Sanctify themselves-Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel, in the way of his judgments. Prepare yourselves by true repentance, that you may either obtain some mitigation of the plague, or, whilst your bodies are destroyed by the flesh you desire and eat, your souls may be saved from the wrath of God. Sanctifying is often used for preparing, as Jeremiah 6:4 12:3. In the ears of the Lord-Not secretly in your closets, but openly and impudently in the doors of your tents, calling heaven and earth to witness.

Verse 18. Sanctify yourselves — Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel, in the way of his judgments. Prepare yourselves by true repentance, that you may either obtain some mitigation of the plague, or, while your bodies are destroyed by the flesh you desire and eat, your souls may be saved from the wrath of God. Sanctifying is often used for preparing, as Jeremiah 6:4; 12:3. In the ears of the Lord — Not secretly in your closets, but openly and impudently in the doors of your tents, calling heaven and earth to witness.

18. Sanctify yourselves — As a preparation for this extraordinary manifestation of the Holy One all physical and ceremonial defilement was to be put away from their clothes and persons. See Genesis 35:2; Exodus 19:10, notes. For it was well with us in Egypt — This declared superiority of condition beneath the crushing yoke of Pharaoh to their present elevation in the service of the Lord, indicates a depth of moral degradation and spiritual stupor which provokes his just anger.

19. Ye shall not eat one day — As they did a year before. Exodus 16:12, 13.

V. 20. At your nostrils-Which meat violently vomited up frequently doth. Thus God destroys them by granting their desires, and turns even their blessings into curses. Ye have despised the Lord-You have lightly esteemed his bounty and manifold blessings, you have slighted and distrusted his promises and providence after so long and large experience of it. Who is among you-Who is present and resident with you to observe all your carriage, and to punish your offences. This is added as a great aggravation of the crime, to sin in the presence of the judge. Why came we forth out of Egypt?-Why did God do us such an injury? Why did we so foolishly obey him in coming forth?

Verse 20. Until it come out at your nostrils — That is, till your impatient appetites be glutted; and by another instance of divine power, you be convinced to your shame how irreligiously, distrustfully, and ungratefully you have acted toward God amidst all his merciful providences toward you. The expression presents a very strong, though disagreeable idea of satiety and surfeit, when the overloaded stomach disburdens itself at the mouth and nostrils. Ye have despised the Lord — You have lightly esteemed his bounty and manifold blessings; you have slighted and distrusted his promises and providence after so long and large experience of it. The Lord who is among you — Who is present and resident with you, to observe all your carriage, and to punish your offences. This is added as a great aggravation of the crime, to sin in the presence of the judge. Why came we forth out of Egypt? — Why did God do us such an injury? Why did we so foolishly obey him in coming forth?

20. Until it come out at your nostrils — We cannot agree with Bishop Patrick that this is a prediction of copious vomiting, but rather that so great a quantity would be eaten day after day that the digestive power would fail, and the stench of the foul stomach would pour forth through the nose. Says the Targum of Palestine, “Until the smell of it come forth from your nostrils.” Loathsome — Offensive even to themselves. Because ye… despised the Lord — Complaining of providential allotments may include contempt of God. Great is the guilt of grumblers! Which is among you — The Chaldee elucidates the heinousness of the sin: “whose divine majesty dwells among you,” in the shekinah. Under Tiberius the offence of majestas (treason) was extended to all acts and words which might appear to be disrespectful to the emperor.

V. 21. Six hundred thousand footmen-Fit for war, besides women and children. That Moses speaks this as distrusting God’s word is evident; and that Moses was not remarkably punished for this as he was afterward for the same sin, Numbers 20:12, may be imputed to the different circumstances of this and that sin: this was the first offence of the kind, and therefore more easily passed by; that was after warning and against more light and experience. This seems to have been spoken secretly: that openly before the people; and therefore it was fit to be openly and severely punished to prevent the contagion of that example.

Verse 21. Six hundred thousand footmen — Fit for war, besides women and children. That Moses speaks this as distrusting God’s word, is evident; and that Moses was not remarkably punished for this as he was afterward for the same sin, (Numbers 20.,) may be imputed to the different circumstances of this and that sin; this was the first offence of the kind, and therefore more easily passed by; that was after warning, and against more light and experience. This seems to have been spoken secretly; that openly, before the people; and therefore it was fit to be openly and severely punished, to prevent the contagion of that example.

21. Six hundred thousand footmen — This, in round numbers, is the census of men fit for military service. See Numbers 1:21-46, notes. Hence the entire population must have exceeded two millions. “In view of the demands of such an immense host the faith of Moses seems to have wavered. Either from the discomposure of his spirit by reason of the affronts of the people, or from a fear that they might be commanded to feed upon the cattle required for sacrifice, or from sheer incredulity, he is prompted to enquire how it can be possible that so many mouths should be fed with flesh for a whole month together.” — Bush. Reason looks at natural causes alone. Faith brings God into the scene, and therefore knows absolutely nothing of difficulties; yea, she laughs at impossibilities.

Verse 22. Shall the flocks and the herds be slain] There is certainly a considerable measure of weakness and unbelief manifested in the complaints and questions of Moses on this occasion; but his conduct appears at the same time so very simple, honest, and affectionate, that we cannot but admire it, while we wonder that he had not stronger confidence in that God whose miracles he had so often witnessed in Egypt.

22. All the fish of the sea — See verse 5, note. The Mediterranean and the Red Sea were the only seas with which Israel was acquainted.

Verse 23. Is the Lord’s hand waxed short?] Hast thou forgotten the miracles which I have already performed? or thinkest thou that my power is decreased? The power that is unlimited can never be diminished.

Verse 23. Is the Lord’s hand waxed short? — Is the divine power diminished? Isaiah 50:2, and 59:1. What has not God done to convince mankind that his power is always unlimited? And yet man is still ready to fall into the weakness of thinking that there are circumstances in which the power of God cannot afford relief or deliverance, but must, as it were, remain inactive.

23. Is the Lord’s hand waxed short — The hand is the instrument, and hence the symbol, of power. To say that a person’s hand is short is, in Hebrew conception, to say that he is impotent. Among the modern Arabs and Persians a long hand denotes strength, a short hand weakness. When the idea of omnipotence as available for human necessities in answer to prayer drops out of the mind, unbelief enters. Hence Jesus says to the blind men, “Believe ye that I am able to do this?” The burden of Paul’s epistles and prayers is, that believers “may know the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe.” Ephesians 1:19. It is of the utmost importance to all Christians, especially to all preachers, to keep the almightiness of God ever before the soul. This entire verse is a rebuke to the littleness of Moses’s faith.

V. 24. Moses went out-Out of the tabernacle, into which he entered to receive God’s answers from the mercy-seat. The seventy men-They are called seventy from the stated number, though two of them were lacking, as the Apostles are called the twelve, Matthew 26:20, when one of that number was absent. Round the tabernacle-Partly that the awe of God might be imprinted upon their hearts, that they might more seriously undertake and more faithfully manage their high employment, but principally, because that was the place where God manifested himself, and therefore there he would bestow his spirit upon them.

Verse 24. Moses went out — Either from the sanctuary, into which he had entered to receive God’s answers from the mercy-seat, or he went out from his tent to the people. And gathered the seventy men — They are called seventy from the stated number, though two of them were lacking, as the apostles are called the twelve, (Matthew 26:20,) when one of that number was absent. Round the tabernacle — Partly that the awe of God might be imprinted upon their hearts, that they might more seriously undertake, and more faithfully manage their high employment; but principally, because that was the place where God manifested himself, and therefore there he would bestow his Spirit upon them.

THE SEVENTY ELDERS ARE APPOINTED AND QUALIFIED, 24-30.

24. Moses… told the people — In order to quiet their murmurings, not to secure a popular election of the seventy. Moses was the sole judge of their fitness. See verse 16, note. Round about the tabernacle — Why the elders were assembled around the tabernacle and not at the door, the usual place of important gatherings, is unknown. This unique place was in keeping with the unique purpose of the meeting.

V. 25. Rested on them-Not only moved them for a time, but took up his settled abode with them, because the use and end of this gift was perpetual. They prophesied-Discoursed of the word and works of God in a marvellous manner, as the prophets did. So this word is used, 1 Samuel 10:5,6 Joel 2: 28 1 Corinthians 14:3. Yet were they not hereby constituted teachers, but civil magistrates, who together with the spirit of government, received also the spirit of prophesy, as a sign and seal both to themselves and to the people, that God had called them to that employment. They did not cease-Either for that day, they continued in that exercise all that day, and, it may be, all the night too, as it is said of Saul, 1 Samuel 19:24, or, afterwards also, to note that this was a continued gift conferred upon them to enable them the better to discharge their magistracy; which was more expedient for them than for the rulers of other people, because the Jews were under a theocracy or the government of God, and even their civil controversies were decided out of that word of God which the prophets expounded.

Verse 25. When the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied] By prophesying here we are to understand their performing those civil and sacred functions for which they were qualified; exhorting the people to quiet and peaceable submission, to trust and confidence in the goodness and providence of God, would make no small part of the duties of their new office. The ideal meaning of the word abn naba is to pray, entreat, &c. The prophet is called aybn nabi, because he prays, supplicates, in reference to God; exhorts, entreats, in reference to man. See Clarke on “Genesis 20:7”.

Verse 25. Rested on them — Not only moved them for a time, but took up his settled abode with them, because the use and end of this gift were perpetual. They prophesied — Discoursed of the word and works of God in a marvellous manner, as the prophets did. So this word is used, 1 Samuel 10:5, 6; Joel 2:28; 1 Corinthians 14:3. Yet were they not hereby constituted teachers, but civil magistrates, who, together with the spirit of government, received also the spirit of prophecy, as a sign and seal, both to themselves and to the people, that God had called them to that employment. They did not cease — Either for that day, continuing in that exercise all that day, and, it may be, all the night too, as it is said of Saul, 1 Samuel 19:24; or, afterward also. For this was a continued gift, conferred upon them to enable them the better to discharge their magistracy; which was more expedient for them than for the rulers of other people, because the Jews were under a theocracy, or the government of God, and even their civil controversies were decided out of that word of God which the prophets expounded.

Ver. 25. In a cloud. It is common for the poets to represent the gods as descending in a rainbow, or a cloud, and always as diffusing ambrosial perfumes through the air.

Ambrosiæque comæ divinum vertice odorem

Spiravere. — Æneid, lib. 1. 5:403.

25. In a cloud — Literally, in the cloud. This visible symbol of Jehovah’s presence, which stood above the tabernacle, descended and encompassed it and the seventy elders, and thus was the vehicle of the Spirit to them as the breath of Jesus was to the disciples. John 20:22. And spake unto him — The communication is not recorded, perhaps because it was private. They prophesied — The word abn, to bubble up, occurs here the first time in the Bible. Its most common use is of inspired human discourse. It is chiefly in the passive voice, implying that the prophet is not so much the speaker as the one through whom the divine afflatus, which possesses his faculties, speaks. Thus in the Greek we have the passive form of the verb manteuesqai, to divine, like mainesqai, to be mad, and in the Latin vaticinari, to foretell. Hence prophecy has been regarded by all these peoples as beyond the range of the human mind, and as the work of God subsidizing human organs. This extraordinary utterance may not be limited to the prediction of future events: it may be employed in rebuke, testimony, instruction, exhortation, or comforting, 1 Corinthians 14:3. The Holy Spirit always loosens the tongue. It is fitting that the gift of speech, the crowning faculty of man as distinguished from the brutes, should be monopolized by its Giver when he takes exclusive possession of the body and soul as his temple. See 1 Samuel 10:6; 19:20-23, notes; Acts 2:18; 19:6. Under the Christian dispensation one in possession of the fulness of the Spirit naturally expresses himself in elevated language, or song. Ephesians 5:18, 19. For the difference between the operations of the Spirit before the day of Pentecost and afterward, see Numbers 27:18, note. And did not cease — The Septuagint literally and correctly translates this by kai ouk eti proseqento, and they did not add, (to prophecy.) They prophesied one day and ceased. Thus the R.V. This was sufficient to impress the people with their divine vocation to an office in which administration and not prophecy was the great function. The Targums, the Vulgate, and the Chaldee all read, they ceased not. This is explained by stone as a perpetual prophetic endowment, and by Patrick and others as covering only the time in which the elders surrounded the tabernacle.

V. 26. In the camp-Not going to the tabernacle, as the rest did, either not having seasonable notice to repair thither: or, being detained in the camp by sickness, or some urgent occasion, not without God’s special providence, that so the miracle might be more evident. Were written-In a book or paper by Moses, who by God’s direction nominated the fittest persons.

Verse 26. In the camp — Not going to the tabernacle, as the rest did, either not having seasonable notice to repair thither, or, being detained in the camp by sickness, or some urgent occasion, not without God’s special providence, that so the miracle might be more evident. They were of them that were written — In a book or paper by Moses, who, by God’s direction, nominated the fittest persons.

26. But there remained two — For reasons satisfactory to the Lord, perhaps from excessive reserve and self-distrust, certainly not from obstinacy, Eldad and Medad did not go to the tabernacle, though they were of them that were written in the roll of the elect seventy. But the Spirit found them out and endowed them. The fire shut up in their bones finds a vent through their lips. Went not out unto the tabernacle — This is by no means a proof that the tabernacle was at this time outside of the camp. “If a gentleman goes out of his yard into his house, it does not follow that his house is not in the yard. The camp, considered as the abode of the people, had its limits within as well as without. An open space, such as reverence required, separated the tents of the people from the tent of God; and this must be traversed in passing from one to the other. It was just as natural to distinguish the camp from the sacred enclosure of the tabernacle as it is for a person in New York city to speak of driving out to Central Park, which is nevertheless within the city limits.” — Dr. W.H. Green. There was, for a short time, at the foot of Mount Sinai, a tabernacle without the camp. See Exodus 33:7-11. This was because the sin of the golden calf ruptured the covenant and put an end to all proceedings under it. Without going on to construct the tabernacle according to the specifications given him, Moses sets before the eyes of the people a visible sign of their altered relation to Jehovah by pitching a provisional tabernacle some distance outside the camp, signifying that he would not dwell in the midst of them. But when THE TABERNACLE was built out of the gifts of Israel it was located in the midst of the camp. How wide of the truth is the assertion of Professor W.R. Smith, that Ezekiel paved the way for the sanctuary being located in the midst of the people! They prophesied in the camp — This was deemed an irregularity and an infraction of good order. The unity of the Church in the wilderness was in danger of destruction by this independent centre of prophetic inspiration and authority separate from Moses and the tabernacle.

V. 27. Told Moses-Fearing lest his authority should be diminished by their prophesying; and thereby taking authority to themselves without his consent.

Verse 27. Eldad and Medad do prophesy, &c.] ELDAD, they said, and MEDAD there, Irregularly bold,

By Moses uncommission’d, dare

A separate meeting hold!

And still whom none but heaven will own. Men whom the world decry,

Men authorized by GOD alone,

Presume to prophesy!

Verses 27, 28. There ran a young man and told Moses — Fearing lest his authority should be diminished by their prophesying, and thereby taking power to themselves without his consent. Joshua, the servant of Moses — Who ministered to him as his constant attendant. One of his young men — Hebrew, wyrjbm, mibechuraiv, one of his chosen ones; which may be emphatically added to signify that even great and good men may mistake about the works of God. My lord Moses, forbid them — It would seem that he thought their prophesying or teaching in the camp tended to make those gifts common, and to disparage Moses in the eyes of the people; or, perhaps, he thought it tended to breed a schism, by calling the people away from the tabernacle, the appointed place of public worship, where the rest of the seventy elders were regularly assembled. Thus the disciples forbade one who cast out devils in Christ’s name, because he followed not with them, Luke 9:49, 50.

Ver. 27. Prophesy. These endowments would have continued, if they had cherished the gift.

THE SEVENTY ELDERS ARE APPOINTED AND QUALIFIED, 24-30.

24. Moses… told the people — In order to quiet their murmurings, not to secure a popular election of the seventy. Moses was the sole judge of their fitness. See verse 16, note. Round about the tabernacle — Why the elders were assembled around the tabernacle and not at the door, the usual place of important gatherings, is unknown. This unique place was in keeping with the unique purpose of the meeting.

V. 28. One of his young men-Or, one of his choice ministers, which may be emphatically added, to note that even great and good men may mistake about the works of God. Forbid them-He feared either schism, or sedition, or that by their usurpation of authority, independently upon Moses, his power and esteem might be lessened.

Verse 28. My lord Moses, forbid them. .]

How often have I blindly done

What zealous Joshua did,

Impatient to the rulers run,

And cried, “My lords, forbid!

Silence the schismatics, constrain

Their thoughts with ours t’ agree,

And sacrifice the souls of men

To idol UNITY!”

Verses 27, 28. There ran a young man and told Moses — Fearing lest his authority should be diminished by their prophesying, and thereby taking power to themselves without his consent. Joshua, the servant of Moses — Who ministered to him as his constant attendant. One of his young men — Hebrew, wyrjbm, mibechuraiv, one of his chosen ones; which may be emphatically added to signify that even great and good men may mistake about the works of God. My lord Moses, forbid them — It would seem that he thought their prophesying or teaching in the camp tended to make those gifts common, and to disparage Moses in the eyes of the people; or, perhaps, he thought it tended to breed a schism, by calling the people away from the tabernacle, the appointed place of public worship, where the rest of the seventy elders were regularly assembled. Thus the disciples forbade one who cast out devils in Christ’s name, because he followed not with them, Luke 9:49, 50.

28. Joshua — See Exodus 17:9, and the Introduction to the Book of Joshua, page 7. My lord — This title of respect is applied to Moses by Aaron in Numbers 12:11, and by the people in Numbers 32:25. Forbid them — This is the beginning of religious intolerance for nonconformity in worship.

V. 29. Enviest thou for my sake-Art thou grieved because the gifts and graces of God are imparted to others besides me? Prophets-He saith prophets, not rulers, for that he knew was absurd and impossible. So we ought to be pleased, that God is glorified and good done, tho’ to the lessening of our own honour.

Verse 29. Enviest thou for my sake?]

Moses, the minister of God,

Rebukes our partial love,

Who envy at the gifts bestow’d

On those we disapprove.

We do not our own spirit know,

Who wish to see suppress’d

The men that Jesu’s spirit show,

The men whom God hath bless’d.

Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets]

SHALL we the Spirit’s course restrain,

Or quench the heavenly fire?

Let God his messengers ordain,

And whom he will inspire.

Blow as he list, the Spirit’s choice

Of instruments we bless;

We will, if Christ be preached, rejoice,

And wish the word success.

Can all be prophets then? are all

Commission’d from above?

No; but whome’er the Lord shall call

We joyfully approve.

O that the Church might all receive

The spirit of prophecy,

And all in Christ accepted live,

And all in Jesus die!

Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures, by Charles Wesley, M. A., and Presbyter of the Church of England. Bristol, 1762. 2 vols. 12mo.

These sentiments are the more particularly remarkable as they come from one who was sufficiently bigoted to what was called ecclesiastical orders and regularity.

Verse 29. Enviest thou for my sake? — Art thou grieved because the gifts and graces of God’s Spirit are imparted to others besides me? Or rather, Art thou jealous for my sake? Art thou afraid that their exercising these prophetic gifts will be a diminution of my honour? Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets — That they were all so inspired by his Spirit as to be enabled to speak to his praise, and to the edification of others! He saith prophets, not rulers, for that, he knew, could not be. Thus we see, though Joshua was Moses’s particular friend and confidant, and though he said this out of respect for Moses, whose honour he was very unwilling to see lessened by the call of those elders, yet Moses reproves him, as Christ did the disciples on the occasion just mentioned, and, in him, all who are of such a spirit. “We must take care,” says Henry, “that we do not secretly grieve at the gifts, graces, or usefulness of others, and that we be not forward to condemn and silence those that differ from us, as if they did not follow Christ, because they do not follow him with us. Shall we reject those whom Christ has owned? or restrain any from doing good because they are not in every thing of our mind? Moses was of another spirit; so far from silencing these two, and quenching the spirit in them, he wishes that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that he would put his Spirit upon them. Not that he would have had any to set up for prophets who were not duly qualified; or that he expected the spirit of prophecy to be made thus common; but he thus expresseth the love and esteem he had for all the Lord’s people, the complacency he took in the gifts of others, and how far he was from being displeased at Eldad and Medad’s prophesying from under his eye. Such an excellent spirit as this blessed Paul was of; rejoicing that Christ was preached, though it were by those who therein intended to add affliction to his bonds, Philippians 1:16. We ought to be pleased that God is served and glorified, and good done, though to the lessening of our credit and the credit of our way.”

29. Enviest thou for my sake — Do you think this act is derogatory to my dignity, and disrespectful to my office as the human head of Israel? All… were prophets — This strongly expressed wish evinces the unselfishness of Moses, his freedom from unholy ambition, and his desire for the spiritual well-being of all the people. Put his Spirit upon them — This may be regarded as prophetic of the dispensation more distinctly announced by Joel, (Joel 2:28,) proclaimed by John the Baptist as at hand, (Matthew 3:11,) promised by Jesus Christ, (John 14:16,) and ushered in by the coming of the Comforter on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2. All who enjoy the fulness of the Spirit most earnestly desire the universal diffusion of this unspeakable gift — “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” Compare John 4:14, and 7:37-39; Ephesians 3:19; 5:18. This desire of Moses, in view of the spiritual desolation of the world, even in Israel, is only an anticipatory outbreaking of the prayer for more labourers which Jesus taught his disciples. Matthew 9:37, 38, notes.

V. 30. Into the camp-Among the people, to exercise the gifts and authority now received.

Verse 30. Moses gat him into the camp — Among the people; he and the elders of Israel — To exercise the gifts and authority they had now received.

THE SEVENTY ELDERS ARE APPOINTED AND QUALIFIED, 24-30.

24. Moses… told the people — In order to quiet their murmurings, not to secure a popular election of the seventy. Moses was the sole judge of their fitness. See verse 16, note. Round about the tabernacle — Why the elders were assembled around the tabernacle and not at the door, the usual place of important gatherings, is unknown. This unique place was in keeping with the unique purpose of the meeting.

V. 31. A wind from the Lord-An extraordinary and miraculous wind both for its vehemency and for its effects. Quails-God gave them quails once before, Exodus 16:13, but neither in the same quantity, nor with the same design and effect as now. From the sea-Principally from the Red-sea, and both sides of it where, by the reports of ancient Heathen writers, they were then in great numbers, and, no doubt, were wonderfully increased by God’s special providence for this very occasion. Two cubits high-Not as if the quails did cover all the ground two cubits high for a day’s journey on each side of the camp, for then there had been no place left where they could spread them all abroad round about the camp; but the meaning is, that the quails came and fell down round about the camp for a whole day’s journey on each side of it, and that in all that space they lay here and there in great heaps, which were often two cubits high.

Verse 31. A wind from the Lord] An extraordinary one, not the effect of a natural cause. And brought quails, a bird which in great companies visits Egypt about the time of the year, March or April, at which the circumstance marked here took place. Mr. Hasselquist, the friend and pupil of the famous Linnæus, saw many of them about this time of the year, when he was in Egypt. See his Travels, p. 209.

Two cubits high upon the face of the earth.] We may consider the quails as flying within two cubits of the ground; so that the Israelites could easily take as many of them as they wished, while flying within the reach of their hands or their clubs. The common notion is, that the quails were brought round about the camp, and fell there in such multitudes as to lie two feet thick upon the ground; but the Hebrew will not bear this version. The Vulgate has expressed the sense, Volabantque in ære duobus cubitis altitudine super terram. “And they flew in the air, two cubits high above the ground.”

Verse 31. There went forth a wind from the Lord — An extraordinary and miraculous wind, both for its vehemency and for its effects. And brought quails — So the Hebrew word, µywlc, salvim, is interpreted by Josephus, and all the ancient versions; nor does there appear to be any sufficient authority for translating it locusts; notwithstanding what Ludolphus, in his History of Ethiopia, 50:1, c. 13; and after him Bishop Patrick, and the late bishop of Clogher, have said on the subject. This is the second time that God gave them these quails. He sent them the former year, and much about the same season, Exodus 16:13; but neither in the same quantity nor with the same design as now. From the sea — Principally from the Arabian gulf, or Red sea, and both sides of it, where, according to ancient heathen writers, they were then in great numbers, and no doubt were wonderfully increased by God’s special providence for this very occasion. This sea lies south of that part of Arabia where the Israelites were now encamped. It was therefore a south wind that brought these quails, and is said to have come forth from the Lord, because it was ordered and directed by his special power and providence. Two cubits high — Not as if the quails did cover all the ground two cubits high for a day’s journey on each side of the camp, for then there had been no place left where they could spread them all abroad round about the camp; but the meaning is, that the quails came and fell down round about the camp for a whole day’s journey on each side of it, and that in all that space they lay here and there in great heaps, which were often two cubits high.

Ver. 31. Brought quails from the sea. They are not, it would seem, the quails mentioned in Exodus 16., for those were sent in the wilderness of Sin, on the fifteenth day of the second month, before the ark arrived at mount Sinai. And the camp did not break up from before Sinai, till the second day of the twentieth month. Consequently the Israelites were twice fed with quails.

THE QUAILS, AND THE GRAVES OF LUST, 31-34.

The remarkable promise of God that all Israel should surfeit upon flesh, a promise at which even Moses had staggered, is now to be fulfilled. 31, 32. A wind from the Lord — All winds are produced by the power of Jehovah, (Psalm 135:7,) since neither the laws of nature nor the qualities of matter produce motion. The Greek philosopher Anaxagoras taught that all force emanates from nouv, mind, a power distinct from nature, and presiding over it. This is the best Christian philosophy. The wind was either a southwest wind, from the region of the upper Nile, or a southeast one, from the Arabian Gulf. Brought quails — Some have contended that the salvim were not quails but locusts; but modern Hebraists reject this interpretation, and insist that the common quail is the bird. This is corroborated by the striking similarity of the modern Arabic salwa, quail, to the Hebrew, selav. See Exodus 16:13, note. The theory that they were wild fowls about three feet high, such as wild geese or storks, or Stanley’s “large red-legged cranes,” is a gratuitous assumption without the least scriptural foundation. A day’s journey — On both sides of the camp, for the space of eight or ten miles, the ground was thickly strewn with exhausted quails, none of them able to fly more than two cubits from the ground. “It is a not uncommon occurrence, that, when wearied, these birds droop and settle down for rest, so as to be easily clubbed with sticks, and even caught by the hand. The miraculous provision chiefly lay in the extraordinary number, the seasonable arrival, and the peculiar circumstances under which those quails came.” — Edersheim. See Concluding Notes. Ten homers — About fifty-five bushels, according to Josephus, or half this quantity, according to the rabbins. This was the accumulation of the least industrious person. “By this enormous quantity, which so immensely surpassed the natural size of the flocks of quails, God purposed to show the people his power to give them flesh not for a day or several days, but for a whole month, both to put to shame their unbelief, and to punish their greediness.” — Keil. They spread them all abroad — For the purpose of drying them in the sun. Our earliest history of Egypt describes the people as salting and drying great quantities of fish and fowl. Calmet thinks that the Hebrews salted their quails, and then dried them, in imitation of the Egyptians.

V. 32. Stood up-Or rather rose up, which word is often used for beginning to do any business. All that night-Some at one time, and some at the other, and some, through greediness or diffidence, at both times. Ten homers-That is, ten ass loads: which if it seem incredible, you must consider, 1. That the gatherers here were not all the people, which could not be without great inconveniences, but some on the behalf of all, while the rest were exercised about other necessary things. So the meaning is not, that every Israelite had so much for his share, but that every collector gathered so much for the family, or others by whom he was intrusted. 2. That the people did not gather for their present use only, but for a good while to come, and being greedy and distrustful of God’s goodness, it is not strange if they gathered much more than they needed. 3. That the word, rendered homers, may signify heaps, as it doth, Exodus 8:14 Judges 15:16 Habakkuk 3:15, and ten, is often put for many, and so the sense is, that every one gathered several heaps. If yet the number seems incredible, it must be farther known, 4. That Heathen and other authors affirm, in those eastern and southern countries quails are innumerable, so that in one part of Italy, within the compass of five miles, there were taken about an hundred thousand of them every day for a month together. And Atheneus relates, that in Egypt, a country prodigiously populous, they were in such plenty, that all those vast numbers of people could not consume them, but were forced to salt and keep them for future use. They spread them-That so they might dry, salt and preserve them for future use, according to what they had seen in Egypt.

Verse 32. The people stood up, &c.] While these immense flocks were flying at this short distance from the ground, fatigued with the strong wind and the distance they had come, they were easily taken by the people; and as various flocks continued to succeed each other for two days and a night, enough for a month’s provision might be collected in that time. If the quails had fallen about the tents, there was no need to have stood up two days and a night in gathering them; but if they were on the wing, as the text seems to suppose, it was necessary for them to use despatch, and avail themselves of the passing of these birds whilst it continued. See Harmer, and see Clarke’s note on “Exodus 16:13”.

And they spread them all abroad] Maillet observes that birds of all kinds come to Egypt for refuge from the cold of a northern winter; and that the people catch them, pluck, and bury them in the burning sand for a few minutes, and thus prepare them for use. This is probably what is meant by spreading them all abroad round the camp.

Some authors think that the word µywlc salvim, rendered quails in our translation, should be rendered locusts. There is no need of this conjecture; all difficulties are easily resolved without it. The reader is particularly referred to the note on See Clarke “Exodus 16:13”.

Verse 32. All that night and all next day — Some at the one time, and some at the other, and some, through greediness or diffidence, at both times. Ten homers — That is, ten ass-loads: which, if it seem incredible, consider, 1st, That the gatherers here were not all the people, which could not be without great inconvenience, but some on the behalf of all, while the rest were exercised about other necessary things. Therefore, the meaning is not, that every Israelite had so much for his share, but that every collector gathered so much for the family or others by whom he was appointed. 2d, That the people did not gather for their present use only, but for a good while to come; and being distrustful of God’s goodness, it is not strange if they gathered much more than they needed. 3d, That the word rendered homers, may signify heaps, as it doth Exodus 8:14; Judges 15:16; Habakkuk 3:15; and ten is often put for many, and so the sense is, that every one gathered several heaps. If yet the number seem incredible, it must be further known, 4th, That heathen and other authors affirm, in those eastern and southern countries, quails are innumerable, so that in one part of Italy, within the compass of five miles, there were taken about a hundred thousand of them every day for a month together. And Athenæus relates, that in Egypt, a country prodigiously populous, they were in such plenty, that all those vast numbers of people could not consume them, but were forced to salt and keep them for future use. They spread them — That so they might dry, salt, and preserve them for future use, according to what they had seen in Egypt.

THE QUAILS, AND THE GRAVES OF LUST, 31-34.

The remarkable promise of God that all Israel should surfeit upon flesh, a promise at which even Moses had staggered, is now to be fulfilled. 31, 32. A wind from the Lord — All winds are produced by the power of Jehovah, (Psalm 135:7,) since neither the laws of nature nor the qualities of matter produce motion. The Greek philosopher Anaxagoras taught that all force emanates from nouv, mind, a power distinct from nature, and presiding over it. This is the best Christian philosophy. The wind was either a southwest wind, from the region of the upper Nile, or a southeast one, from the Arabian Gulf. Brought quails — Some have contended that the salvim were not quails but locusts; but modern Hebraists reject this interpretation, and insist that the common quail is the bird. This is corroborated by the striking similarity of the modern Arabic salwa, quail, to the Hebrew, selav. See Exodus 16:13, note. The theory that they were wild fowls about three feet high, such as wild geese or storks, or Stanley’s “large red-legged cranes,” is a gratuitous assumption without the least scriptural foundation. A day’s journey — On both sides of the camp, for the space of eight or ten miles, the ground was thickly strewn with exhausted quails, none of them able to fly more than two cubits from the ground. “It is a not uncommon occurrence, that, when wearied, these birds droop and settle down for rest, so as to be easily clubbed with sticks, and even caught by the hand. The miraculous provision chiefly lay in the extraordinary number, the seasonable arrival, and the peculiar circumstances under which those quails came.” — Edersheim. See Concluding Notes. Ten homers — About fifty-five bushels, according to Josephus, or half this quantity, according to the rabbins. This was the accumulation of the least industrious person. “By this enormous quantity, which so immensely surpassed the natural size of the flocks of quails, God purposed to show the people his power to give them flesh not for a day or several days, but for a whole month, both to put to shame their unbelief, and to punish their greediness.” — Keil. They spread them all abroad — For the purpose of drying them in the sun. Our earliest history of Egypt describes the people as salting and drying great quantities of fish and fowl. Calmet thinks that the Hebrews salted their quails, and then dried them, in imitation of the Egyptians.

V. 33. Chewed-Heb. cut off, namely from their mouths. A very great plague-Probably the pestilence. But the sense is, before they had done eating their quails, which lasted for a month. Why did God so sorely punish the peoples murmuring for flesh here, when he spared them after the same sin, Exodus 16:12. Because this was a far greater sin, and aggravated with worse circumstances; proceeding not from necessity, as that did, when as yet they had no food, but from mere wantonness, when they had Manna constantly given them; committed after large experience of God’s care and kindness, after God had pardoned their former sins, and after God had in a solemn and terrible manner made known his laws to them.

Verse 33. The wrath of the Lord was kindled] In what way, and with what effects, we cannot precisely determine. Some heavy judgment fell upon those murmurers and complainers, but of what kind the sacred writer says nothing.

Verse 33. The Lord smote the people with a very great plague — With a pestilence, say some, with a consumption, say others. But it seems more probable that it was by some untimely death, which was the effect of their own gluttony and intemperance. This seems to agree best with the threatening, verse 20. God was pleased, in a great measure, to overlook their first murmuring, about a year before, when he sent them the manna, because they were then under great necessity, being really pinched with hunger; whereas now that they were fed with bread from heaven, they cried for meat, not from need, but mere wantonness, and that after much experience of God’s care and kindness, after he had pardoned their former sins, and after he had made known his laws to them in a most solemn and terrible manner. Besides, the longer God exercises forbearance, the more is the offender’s guilt aggravated, if he remain impenitent. Reader, remember, “the goodness of God leads thee to repentance,” and take heed that thou do not, “after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasure up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath!”

33. While the flesh… teeth — Before the flesh was chewed and swallowed, the wrath of Jehovah burned against the people, not as Knobel supposes, as the effect of the excessive quantity of quails eaten, producing giddiness and convulsions, but as a manifest judgment direct from God, by which a great multitude were suddenly swept away. The wrath of the Lord was kindled — This phrase is no sign of a lower conception of God than the Lord Jesus gives. Wrath is an integral part of love, when the lover is perfectly holy and the loved are unholy. The most terrible anger is that of perfect meekness, as expressed in that solemn paradox of the apostle of love, “the wrath of the Lamb.” God was angry with Israel because he loved them, and desired their love for their own good. The fact of his choice of Israel for his own, and the intensity of his love, were shown no less by his anger at their sin than by the blessings which crowned obedience. Great plague — The Hebrew for plague signifies a stroke. It does not here indicate any particular disease, but a sudden and widespread destruction of human life.

V. 34. Kibroth-hattaavah-Heb. the graves of lust, that is, of the men that lusted, as it here follows. And it notes that the plague did not seize upon all that eat of the quails, for then all had been destroyed, but only upon those who were inordinate both in the desire and use of them.

Verse 34. Kibroth-hattaavah] The graves of lust; and thus their scandalous crime was perpetuated by the name of the place.

1. ST. JUDE speaks of persons who were murmurers and complainers, walking after their own lusts, Jude 1:16, and seems to have this people particularly in view, whom the sacred text calls memyimoiroi, complainers of their lot. They could never be satisfied; even God himself could not please them, because they were ever preferring their own wisdom to his. God will save us in his own way, or not at all; because that way, being the plan of infinite wisdom, it is impossible that we can be saved in any other. How often have we professed to pray, “Thy will be done!” And how seldom, very seldom, have our hearts and lips corresponded! How careful should we be in all our prayers to ask nothing but what is perfectly consistent with the will of God! Many times our prayers and desires are such that, were they answered, our ruin would be inevitable. “THY will be done!” is the greatest of all prayers; and he who would pray safely and successfully, must at least have the spirit of these words in all his petitions. The Israelites asked flesh when they should not have asked for it; God yields to their murmuring, and the death of multitudes of these murmurers was the consequence! We hear of such punishments, and yet walk in the same way, presuming on God’s mercy, while we continue to provoke his justice. Let us settle it in our minds as an indisputable truth, that God is better acquainted with our wants than we are ourselves; that he knows infinitely better what we need; and that he is ever more ready to hear than we are to pray, and is wont to give more than we can desire or deserve.

2. In no case has God at any time withheld from his meanest followers any of the spiritual or temporal mercies they needed. Were he to call us to travel through a wilderness, he would send us bread from heaven, or cause the wilderness to smile and blossom as the rose. How strange is it that we will neither believe that God has worked, or will work, unless we see him working!

NUMBERS

34. Kibroth-hattaavah — This word, signifying the graves of lust, is to the dead murmurers an epitaph, and to the living a warning against yielding to the clamours of unbridled appetite. If Huderah is ancient Hazeroth, “the graves of lust” may be a day’s journey thence in the direction of Sinai, and would lie within fifteen miles of the Gulf of Akabah. Here at Erweis el Ebeirig, a piece of elevated ground which forms a watershed, E.H. Palmer recently found the remains of a large encampment miles in extent, such as stone hearths and bits of charcoal found beneath the surface of the ground. “Just outside of the camp were an immense number of stone heaps, which, from their shape and position could be nothing else but graves.” These Professor Palmer identifies with the scene of this dreadful pestilence.

35. Hazeroth — This is identified with modern Ain Huderah by Robinson, Stanley, and Palmer. It is a plain begirt by tall cliffs of sandstone. “Here and there a hill or dyke of green stone, or a rock of rosy granite, contrasts or blends harmoniously with the rest; and in the midst, beneath a lofty cliff, nestles the dark-green palm-grove of Hazeroth — such a landscape as none but the Great Artist’s hand could have designed.” — Palmer’s Desert of the Exodus. “The region through which the Israelites had hitherto marched was a wide tangle of mountains, with occasional broad plains and numerous narrow wadies, twisting hither and thither. The approach to Hazeroth, however, had been over sandy plains broken by outstanding sandstone cliffs, but the camp itself had been pitched on the sides and in the basin of a hollow, surrounded by weird and fantastic sandstone walls of the most varied colours — deep red and violet, and rich gold and scarlet, mingled with deep purple.” — Geikie.

CONCLUDING NOTES.

(1.) “One of the most marked characteristics of the Hebrews, as distinguished from all communities before or since, showed itself prominently for the first time in connexion with the selection by Moses of the seventy elders as his special council, the original, in the belief of the rabbins, and even of some Christian theologians, of the Great Synagogue, to which Judaism owed so much after the return from exile at Babylon.… Thus, in the very beginnings, the history of Israel is not that of an inspired book or of an inspired order, but of an inspired people. The Spirit of God rests on them in a degree and in a manner which we meet with in no other race. The seventy, chosen from the tribes, anticipated, in their prophetic gifts, a characteristic of future generations. Miriam in the camp had a successor in Deborah on Mount Ephraim; nor was there a district in Palestine which did not, apparently, see a prophet or prophetess raised up in it by God before the gift was finally withdrawn. How great the fervour of religious life in a community where a succession of individuals could be found in whom it rose to so transcendent an elevation as is implied in the very name of prophet!” — Geikie.

(2.) What might appropriately be called the great quail storm has been the subject of much discussion. Keil argues that the quails did not fly over the camp, but that they were thrown upon the ground by the wind in such numbers that they lay as much as two cubits deep in places about the camp, not everywhere of the same depth, but in drifts. He cites in confirmation Psalm 78:27, 28, which is a very strong corroboration of his theory, even after abating the poetical exaggeration. It also has the advantage of the first impression produced by these words, “And let them fall by the camp,… as it were two cubits upon the face of the earth.” Says Tristram: “I have myself found the ground in Algeria, in the month of April, covered with quails for an extent of many acres at daybreak, where on the preceding afternoon there had not been one. They were so fatigued that they scarcely moved till almost trodden on; and, though hundreds were slaughtered, for two days they did not leave the district, till the wind veered and they then as suddenly ventured northward across the sea, leaving scarcely a straggler behind. We noticed a like phenomenon in the Jordan valley, on a smaller scale, and I caught several with my hand; one was actually crushed by my horse’s foot.”

The suggestion of the Pictorial Bible is, that the birds “were so strictly kept by the divine power within the limits of a day’s journey from the camp that even when roused they could not rise more than three feet, and were thus easily caught by nets or by the hand.” The extent of this quail shower is variously estimated from an area sixty miles in diameter to one of sixteen miles, or even half that number. The elements of doubt are, (1.) Whether the day’s journey is that of an individual or of the entire camp. (2.) Whether the starting-point of the day’s journey be the centre or the circumference of the camp.